Losing Lucy
by CourftheCat
Summary: Merlin is requested by King Caspian to return to his home, Narnia, to help rescue Lucy. But things don't go quite according to plan.
1. Chapter 1

"You want a pint, Merlin?" Sir Gwaine asked his friend as he got up to refill his tankard for the sixth time that evening. The boy shook his head and grinned up at Gwaine, who knew he really _did_ want some ale, but the King wouldn't be too thrilled if he was groggy if he got drunk in the tavern. "Oh, come on!" Gwaine thrust a tankard into Merlin's hand.

"Let it alone, Gwaine!" Leon gave Gwaine a friendly kick in the shin from where he was sitting.

"Oh, you wanna fight about it?!" Gwaine slammed his hands down on the table and the tavern fell silent. He drew his sword and placed it at an unsafe distance from Leon's throat. Leon raised his hands in mock surrender and the knights burst into fits of drunken laughter, their audience laughing with them.

Normally, the knights would be suffering at the hands of King Arthur, who like to use late evening as a training session to annoy his friends. Today, however, it was hailing and Arthur had decided it was way too much trouble to get out of bed and into chainmail, only to have the small pieces of ice hurtling themselves at his brain and giving him a migraine, while Merlin and the knights - mostly Merlin - moaned like a group of girls.

The knights were once again in hysterics after someone had come over from another table and asked Merlin if they could use _his_ precious neckerchief to mop up some extremely bloody vomit. While the knights were choking on their drinks, Merlin was failing to disguise how offensive the request had been. he looked over to the table, where many men were now glaring at him. His poor neckerchief.

Merlin couldn't help noticing the tavern gradually getting quieter. he looked up to see a tall, hooded figure standing before him. The knights stopped laughing. Leon reached for his sword.

"Merlin?" the voice was easily recognisable. The hood lifted to reveal a man Merlin could never have expected to see again.

"Caspian...?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Who are you?" Arthur growled. He was in a bad mood - having to get up and see to an uninvited visitor was not the ideal thing to be doing on a Thursday night.

"I am King Caspian the Tenth," he replied, "Ruler of Narnia and emperor of the Lone Islands."

"What is your business here?"

"I was hoping to talk with Merlin about a matter of which he deserves to know and could possibly help us with."

"Say what you must," Arthur decided, "But no messages are to be private." Merlin walked over to Caspian.

"Merlin, we're -" he paused, trying to find the right words. "We've had some trouble."

"Telmarines?" Caspian nodded.

"They are once again rebelling against me," he hung his head. "We captured a spy as a hostage, but when he did not return, they changed tactics, and -"

"What?"

"Merlin, they took Lucy." Merlin felt a sudden pang through his soul. _Lucy._

"Who's... Lucy?" Arthur interrupted.

"Err..." Merlin thought for the right words, "She's a girl I used to like."

"USED?!" Caspian spluttered. "The last letter you sent her was on Saturday! And it was soo soppy!" Merlin blushed with embarrassment.

"How would you know it was soppy?" he growled.

"Well, the professor considered it evidence as to why they took Lucy, so I -"

"You read it!" Merlin yelled. "That letter was private!" Merlin looked like he was going to punch something, or some/one/ - not that he could do much damage. Arthur decided to change the subject before he hurt himself.

"So, what are we going to do?" he asked.

"We need to get back to Narnia," Caspian replied. "Aslan is preparing an army as we speak." Merlin nodded.

"Very well," Arthur said, "We leave at dawn."


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur looked around in amazement. Everything was so impossible - trees dancing, bears talking - it was like his wildest dreams.

A trumpet sounded in the distance.

"The King has returned!" a half-man half-horse called. Arthur had learned about them when he was younger - they were centaurs, creatures of magic.

Making their way through the camp, the threesome were greeted with bows and curtseys, until they reached a grand lion. Merlin and Caspian bowed down on one knee instinctively. Arthur looked at his companions and quickly did the same.

"Rise," he said in a wise sort-of voice, "King Caspian, King Arthur and Sir Merlin." Arthur shot a look at his servant. _Sir Merlin?_ They stood up. "It's good to see you again." He smiled.

"And you," Merlin replied. A girl a little older than Merlin popped her head round the corner.

"Merlin! Caspian!" she smiled.

"Susan!" Merlin grinned. He hugged her. "I hear that you're married now?" Susan nodded and smiled over at Caspian.

"Merlin?!" two men called, surprised.

"Ed! Peter!"

"You've grown so much!" Edmund commented, testing Merlin's height against his own.

"As have you," Merlin replied. "And is that a little moustache I see?"

"It's an old thing we used to do back home," Peter explained. "Movember. You grow a moustache for charity. Ed never got to do it back home, so he does it every year here for the sake of it."


	4. Chapter 4

After hearty reunions, the point was finally approached.

"You know about Lucy?" Peter asked. Merlin sighed.

"Yes," he sighed, "And I will do everything in my power to save her. She means a lot to me - to all of us."

After a long discussion deep into the night, a plan of action was decided. They were to set out at dawn, and reach Telmar by nightfall. Merlin would then break into the cells and rescue Lucy, hopefully without running into any of the guards.

"Lucy!" the brunette girl looked up and her jaw dropped.

"Merlin!" she smiled in disbelief and ran to him, holding his hands through the bars. "What are you doing here?"

"Shh..." he murmured, "Stand back." She backed away from the door so that she wasn't in the way of it flying off its hinges.

Merlin ran to her, hugging her tightly.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." Their lips slowly drew together, but just as they were about to kiss, one of the Telmarine guards groaned in his sleep.

"Come on, the others are waiting."

Merlin and Lucy ran out to the courtyard to meet the others. They got onto their horses and quickly galloped out the gate. Merlin checked that Arthur wasn't lookin and made the gate fall by magic. He then rejoined the others and they galloped onwards until they were sure they were at a safe distances from the castle.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin was walking round the castle when he bumped into Lucy.

"M'lady," he bowed his head.

"Merlin," she giggled, "You don't have to call me that."

"Yes I do," he replied, "You're the Queen, and I'm only a knight at best." She rolled her eyes.

"Merlin," she sighed, leaning in and kissing him, "Don't call me that." He smiled at her. "C'mon," she said, giving his hand a tug, "Let's go for a walk."

"I've missed it here so much," Merlin sighed. He and Lucy were lying on the grass behind the castle.

"I really missed you," Lucy said. Merlin looked at her.

"I've missed you too," he smiled, "But I'm here now," he took her hand. "And I have no reason to leave." He kissed her forehead and she smiled.

Merlin looked at the sky.

"We really ought to be getting back," he said. The stars were settling over their heads and Merlin knew it would soon be too dark to see.

"I guess so," Lucy agreed. She looked over at Merlin. "Will you have to go back to Camelot?" she asked.

"I don't know," Merlin admitted. "Part of me wants to - I have friends there, my home - but I feel this is where I belong. Most of the time."

"You can't blame the people, Merlin," Lucy sighed. "The people have been through a lot. Until you show them you're not like the White Witch, they will continue to condemn you."

"I know," he sighed, "But how can I? If Arthur finds out..." he trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"There's nothing he can do to you here," Lucy reminded him. "If the Narnians can accept you after one hundred years at the hand of an evil sorcerer, then surely Arthur can accept you for thirty."

"I suppose."

After a short ride back to the castle, Merlin left Lucy with a fleeting kiss.

"Goodnight," he smiled.

"Night."


	6. Chapter 6

There was a servant waiting in Lucy's chambers when she got back. Not the usual faun, but a human.

"M'lady," he bowed his head. The accent was almost Telmarine, the same foreign tinge as Caspian, but for some reason she trusted him. "I hope you had a good time?"

"Yes, thank you," she smiled. He offered her a drink and she took it, gulping down the liquid. "What is this?"

"T'is known as belladonna," he replied, "Mixed with a sleeping draught."

"Why?" she pulled a face. "I haven't had trouble sle-" her vision suddenly blurred and her eyes flickered shut. She fell to the ground.

"Sweet dreams, your majesty."

It was about midnight when Merlin heard the voices. Muffled by the walls, he could only just make out the words.

"Is the Queen adequately subdued?"

"Yes," the other voice replied. "She will wake in the morning with a strange urge to go looking for Aslan." _Lucy_, Merlin thought. He got up quickly and made his way towards Lucy's chambers.

"Lu?" Merlin stuck his head into Lucy's chambers and saw her unconscious on the floor. "Lucy!" he ran to her and gently lifted her, putting her on the bed. He shook her lightly and she woke up.

"Merlin," she smiled. "What are you doing here? Have you come to help me find Aslan?"

"You can't go to Aslan," he replied. "It's a trap - a Telmarine trap."

"But Aslan's on our side!" Lucy protested.

"Yes, he is," Merlin soothed, "But you've been drugged with belladonna. I've seen it before - it makes you hallucinate."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know," Merlin confessed, "But you can't let them get the better of you, okay?" Lucy nodded. Merlin smiled and kissed her forehead.


	7. Chapter 7

Lucy was woken in the morning by a familiar voice.

"Lucy," it murmured, "Lucy."

"Aslan?" after Merlin's return, Aslan had once again disappeared. Lucy had been longing for his return. Everything seemed at peace when Aslan was in Narnia. To be with Aslan was to experience pure harmony. But then she remembered what Merlin had said - _it was a Telmarine trap._ She was hallucinating.

But hallucinations were not this vivid, surely. Lucy stood in her room, at battle with her conscience. Merlin had never been wrong before, _never_. And she had dreamed Aslan before and that _was _a hallucination, but nowhere near so _real._

She eventually decided that she was Queen Lucy the Valiant, and she could defend herself. But that was her mistake, the decision that changed everything. As Lucy left that morning, fate had plotted her demise.

"Lucy, here I am," Aslan called to her.

"I'm coming, Aslan," she called, beginning to run. She passed trees that were dancing, the dryads and nymphs waving as she rushed past.

"I am here," Aslan said again. Lucy turned the corner and her face erupted into a grin.

"Aslan!" he laughed and she ran to him, letting herself be enveloped into his ropey mane, which surrounded her and began to feel coarser and like a sack. She didn't care. It was when it went dark that Lucy began to worry. "Hello?" she called. "Aslan? Merlin?" Aslan's laugh became more evil and sinister and the accent emerged, the same accent that belonged to the servant last night. Merlin had been right all along. It was a trap. Merlin had picked her up out of the frying pan, but she had been foolish enough to be blinded by her imagination and stepped willingly into the fire. "Oh, Merlin," she cried, "Oh Merlin, I'm such an idiot."


	8. Chapter 8

"Merlin?" Peter called. "Have you seen Lucy?"

"No," he replied, "Not since last night."

"Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"No," he shook his head, but then thought a moment. "Oh, no!" He turned and ran. He burst into Lucy's chambers and looked around. "Lucy?" he yelled. "Lucy!"

"Where is she, Merlin?" Peter asked.

"Last night she was drugged with something called belladonna," he explained. "It makes you hallucinate. I heard some Telmarines talking about it last night. I warned Lucy, but the urge from the belladonna must have been too great. She has gone looking for Aslan."

"What will they do to her, Merlin?" Peter asked. "Really, what?"

"I don't know," Merlin admitted, "But they probably plan to hold her ransom."

"But Telmarines have never wanted money," Peter said.

"Well they want something," Merlin replied.

"Where am I?" Lucy demanded. She had been roughly pulled from the sack and thrown into a cell.

"Where does not matter," the Telmarine smiled evilly. "Not to you, anyway."

"Tell me!" Lucy yelled.

"You are in Telmar," her captor gave in. "But I shall tell you no more than this." Lucy felt hot tears of frustration down her face. Merlin would come. He'd come before, and he'd come again.


	9. Chapter 9

"High King Peter!" a faun called to him.

"Matthan?" Peter turned to his squire. Matthan carried an envelope, held shut with the Telmarine seal. He gave it to Peter. "Thank you." He opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

_High King Peter,_

_To get your precious sister back, you must give yourself, your family and King Caspian up and allow the Narnian throne to be taken by a Telmarine. Once in this bargain, you must travel to Telmar to retrieve your sister. Any further attempt to harm a Telmarine will result with your sister's death.  
_

_King Miraz III of Telmar_

Merlin sighed. He could not let Lucy die, but to let a Telmarine take the throne would be the same as committing genocide. Either way they lost. But that was the point. Because whatever they chose, Narnia would be weakened. And it was obvious to the Telmarines which option they would choose. Now it was just a matter of time before they were victorious.


	10. Chapter 10

"Would you like me to come with you, Sire?" Matthan asked as Peter tightened the girth on his saddle.

"No," Peter replied, "You need to stay here - I'm not sure what he's going to do to us."

"What?!" Arthur interrupted. "What if they kill us?! I have a kingdom to rule too!"

"You can go home if you like!" Merlin snapped. He was in a bad mood; he had taken the blame for Lucy's capture. He knew he should have stayed with her last night.

"Alright!" Arthur gave in. "Calm down."

"You don't understand," Caspian said, "My people do not believe in the things that Narnia stands for, and to show this they have taken Lucy." He sighed. "The urgency of this trip is great - Lucy's life is at stake."

"I don't see why all of you should go," Arthur protested.

"If we don't," Susan looked up, tears in her eyes, "Lucy will be killed."


	11. Chapter 11

"They won't come," Lucy growled. "They're not stupid."

"Their sister is being held at ransom," the Telmarine smiled, "And they will come."

"You underestimate them," Lucy said defiantly.

"Such spirit," the Telmarine said in a tone that was almost sincere sorrow, "But you will break." His eyes suddenly filled with a fiery intensity. "Even if you have to watch your precious family hang from the ceiling, dripping with their own blood -" he paused when Lucy turned her face away in disgust, and he yanked it back so that her eyes were locked onto his, "You will break. And so will they." He pushed her face away and walked out the cell. Once he was out of sight, Lucy buried her face in her hands and cried herself to sleep.

Lucy was shaken awake a few hours later by King Miraz, who was smiling with the pleasure of victory.

"Seems you were wrong," he murmured, moving so that Lucy could see her family, Caspian, Merlin and Arthur being restrained by guards. "They are stupid."


	12. Chapter 12

"Now what?" Arthur asked, reaching for his sword.

"Ah ah ah," Miraz waggled his finger at Arthur. "You read the treaty. No form of aggression towards any Telmarine."

"Tell us why we're here," Caspian growled through clenched teeth, "And why we are being restrained."

"You didn't think we were just going to let you get your petty sister and walk away, did you?" Miraz laughed. "No, vermin has to be dealt with. You shall be killed and the Narnian throne will become mine."

"I ought to run you through where you stand," Edmund took a step forwards and was roughly grabbed by a guard.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He nodded at a guard, who brought Lucy in, restrained in a headlock, a knife at her throat. "One slip move," he warned, "And your sister will be slowly and painfully killed."

Merlin looked the Telmarine up and down, checking his weaknesses and where best to strike. He noticed the metal hilt of the knife at Lucy's throat. Magic to save a life. Arthur flicked through Merlin's mind. What would he think? No. No, there was no time for what Arthur might think. Lucy's life was in danger and Merlin could save her. Stuff what Arthur thought. He uttered a foreign word and his eyes flashed a familiar gold colour, sending a heat through Merlin's body and into the sword. The Telmarine looked down at in in shock. In a blind panic he jumped backwards and the sword sliced into Lucy's neck like a knife into butter.

"LUCY!" Merlin yelled and leapt forwards from the grasp of his captor and caught Lucy as she fell. She dangled limply in his arms. "Lucy, please..."

"Merlin..." she murmured, her eyes flickering shut. "Merlin, I... I love you." She drew her last breath and Merlin's face erupted with tears that fell down his face like a flash flood.

"No." He swallowed hard and tried to put on a brave face, but it was no use.

No matter what he did, Merlin couldn't bring her back. He needed to face up to what he had done - he had lost Lucy.


End file.
